Android 4 Development Training

Android is an open source platform for mobile computing.  In fact, it is the world’s most popular mobile platform operating system and available on billions of smartphones and tablets.  Applications are developed using familiar Java and Eclipse tools.  This course teaches students the architecture, API and techniques to create robust, performant, and appealing applications for Android devices.  In this class, students will work with Android 4.

After completing this course, students will learn:

• The architecture of Android OS
• Using Eclipse to develop Java applications for Android
• Debugging Android applications
• User interface design/development for Android apps
• Android support for multiple languages
• Creating threads, services and notifications for backend processing
• Purpose and use of broadcast receivers
• Creating and using SQLite databases
• Building Android app widgets
• How to deploy an Android app
   

Mobile developers and architects who will be developing native applications for Android devices.

Basic knowledge of Java.  Familiarity with Eclipse is a plus but not necessary.

An Introduction to Android

• Android overview
• Types of devices
• Types of apps
• A brief history
• Versions
• System architecture
• How apps are compiled and run

Using Eclipse for Android development

• An introduction to Eclipse projects
• How to work with the user interface
• How to work with other XML resources
• How to run an app on a physical device
• How to run an app on an emulator
• How to detect and correct errors and warnings

Developing an App

• Developing and Activity and user interface
• Working with widgets and layouts
• How to work with the strings.xml file
• Handle the click event
• The lifecycle of an activity
• Using the documentation

Test and debug an Android app

• How to check the layout
• The three types of errors
• How to handle runtime errors
• How to trace code execution
• Using LogCat logging
• Using toast
• The debugger
• Configuring your emulators

Working with layouts and widgets

• A summary of layouts & widgets
• The View hierarchy
• Linear layout
• Table layout
• Frame layout
• Nesting layouts
• Editable text views
• Check boxes & radio buttons
• Spinners & seek bars
• Images
• Scroll bar

Handle events

• High-level and low-level events
• Techniques for handling events
• The current class as the listener
• Use a named class as the listener
• Use an anonymous class as the listener
• Use an inner anonymous class as the listener
• Handling Key events
• Handling Touch events

Themes and Styles

• Define a style
• Apply a style
• Create a style sheet
• Working with themes
• Modify a theme
• Summary of built-in themes
• Apply themes
• Define colors
• Apply colors

Menus and Preferences

• Defining a menu
• Display an options menu
• Handle option menu events
• Define preferences
• Display preferences in an activity
• Display preferences in a fragment
• How to get preferences
• Using preferences
• Group preferences

Fragments

• Single-pane and multi-pane layouts
• The lifecycle methods of a fragment
• Create the layout for a fragment
• Create the class for a fragment
• Display a fragment in an activity
• Preference fragment

Threads, Files, Adapters, and Intents

• How threads work
• Execute asynchronous tasks
• Timed tasks
• How to update the UI thread
• How to download a file from the Internet
• How to parse an XML file
• Using an adapter to display data in a list view
• Handle events for an adapter
• Using intents to pass data

Services and Notifications

• The Application object
• Define and register the Appliction object
• The lifecycle of a service
• Create and register a service
• Service start and stop
• Using threads with services
• How notifications work
• Create a pending intent
• Create a notification
• System services

Broadcast Receivers

• System broadcasts
• Custom broadcasts
• Create and send a custom broadcast
• Coding a receiver for a custom broadcast

SQLite Databases

• An introduction to SQLite
• Create a database class
• Create or upgrade a database
• Open and close a database connection
• Retrieve rows
• Insert, update, and delete
• Data from a cursor
• Use the DDMS perspective
• Use the SQLite Database Browser

Tabs and Custom Adapters

• TabManager
• Layout for tab displays
• Custom adapter

Content Providers

• URIs and MIME types for content providers
• Content provider class
• Querying, inserting, updating, deleting
• Register a content provider
• Using a content provider
• Built-in content provider
• Working with a dialog box

App Widgets

• A Home screen app widgets
• How to add app widgets to the Home screen
• Create app widgets
• Configure an app widget
• Register an app widget
• Testing an app widget

Deploy an Android App

• Distribution and monetization
• Release build
• Create the signed APK
• Distribute directly to the user
• Publish on Google Play
• The Developer Console to publish an app

Locations and Maps

• An introduction to the Google Maps Android API
• Working with locations
• Get the current location
• Get location updates
• Making sure GPS is enabled
• Working with Google Maps
• Map fragment
• Add markers
• Add lines